The Rugby Thread

[Chazza]

Mako was quality.

South Africa started well but the lack of game time caught up with them. You feel they should be better as the tests go on.

The lack of fans is a killer though should be an incredible spectical and the Lions is all about the fans really given it brings everyone together. Great game to watch but such a shame it’s not with a big crowd involved.

[Irishnev]

I agree. Or Henshaw and Harris.

Sutherland struggled also. Mako was rock solid. Curry was a bit reckless but mainly lots of solid performances.

Does Biggar failing HIA rule him out of next week?

Right we had visitors for the game so no forums for me - was interesting seeing your commentary

Tough first half with a lot of us forced errors and playing into ZAs hands. Much more accurate second have and fast rucks which caused ZA to tire - the kicking game game vastly improved which turned the game.

All players did well with the exception of Daly who looked too slight for centre in a game like this. He may come under pressure next week.

Lawes, Itoje, Furlong good in the back, Price played v well and I was worried about DVDM but he came through well. They had to win the first test as ZA will get fitter and who knows how Covid impacted them.

Big one next week

[Buzzo]

Yeah agree with that.

Daly got monstered early on and that was about as good as it got for him. He looked erratic when he came on for Biggars HIA. He looked like a winger playing centre. My choice would be Harris and Henshaw but Ali and Henshaw or even Farrell and Henshaw would be ok for me.

Best front row was Mako-Owens-Furlong for me. Cowan-Dickie did well but when he through that squint short line out the pressure of the game had got to him. The thing is you need to manage Front row options over the 80 so probably having those three experienced players on at once is not the way to do it. Some really poor pens first half with Curry late on Faff and Daly not releasing. Second half Watson got out of jail. Gatland is living in the TMO’s head for sure, which ultimately is why having a South African official is mental.

Maro was immense AWJ was solid. Lakers was awesome, shows how astute Gatland is as that seemed a huge call against Beirne. Conan did well.

Price was great for all 60. Biggar was poor first half as a playmaker he made all the wrong decisions and then was better until his HIA.

Henshaw was great second half, carried hard into the SA guts. I thought the back three were all good. Every high ball was contested so nobody came out well in terms of clean takes, and Pollard controlled the territory in a way Biggar could not (first half).

Issues for me are 13 and 10. And managing the front row, depends on Wyn Jones fitness but Sutherland could be under pressure.

Really looking forward to next week as South Africa will have to empty the tanks.

[Buzzo]

Mako was quality.

South Africa started well but the lack of game time caught up with them. You feel they should be better as the tests go on.

The lack of fans is a killer though should be an incredible spectical and the Lions is all about the fans really given it brings everyone together. Great game to watch but such a shame it’s not with a big crowd involved.

As with the 6Ns you have to hand it to the players to get that sort of intensity without a crowd. The game lacked nothing, other than more eyes on it from the stands.

[Irishnev]

Yeah agree with that.

Daly got monstered early on and that was about as good as it got for him. He looked erratic when he came on for Biggars HIA. He looked like a winger playing centre. My choice would be Harris and Henshaw but Ali and Henshaw or even Farrell and Henshaw would be ok for me.

Best front row was Mako-Owens-Furlong for me. Cowan-Dickie did well but when he through that squint short line out the pressure of the game had got to him. The thing is you need to manage Front row options over the 80 so probably having those three experienced players on at once is not the way to do it. Some really poor pens first half with Curry late on Faff and Daly not releasing. Second half Watson got out of jail. Gatland is living in the TMO’s head for sure, which ultimately is why having a South African official is mental.

Maro was immense AWJ was solid. Lakers was awesome, shows how astute Gatland is as that seemed a huge call against Beirne. Conan did well.

Price was great for all 60. Biggar was poor first half as a playmaker he made all the wrong decisions and then was better until his HIA.

Henshaw was great second half, carried hard into the SA guts. I thought the back three were all good. Every high ball was contested so nobody came out well in terms of clean takes, and Pollard controlled the territory in a way Biggar could not (first half).

Issues for me are 13 and 10. And managing the front row, depends on Wyn Jones fitness but Sutherland could be under pressure.

Really looking forward to next week as South Africa will have to empty the tanks.

We got lucky has I thought ZA had a good try ruled out but as you said Gats must have been in his head.

Daly wasn’t great and could be under pressure - Biggar might not make it so Farrell would get the nod. I thought Biggar kicked poorly out of hand and missed a very easy kick but he kicked a cracker from the touch line

Really set up for next week

[Buzzo]

I thought the first pass looked forward and we didn’t get a great angle on the offside but it looked harsh. You’d be gutted to have that ruling against you. Farrell was ok also, but thought he kicked poorly also. 100% on Biggar from the hand. Was just kicking possession away. The game turned when we went through phases and sapped their energy.

Finn Russell is fit again also

Would love to see what he could do against them.

[Irishnev]

I thought the first pass looked forward and we didn’t get a great angle on the offside but it looked harsh. You’d be gutted to have that ruling against you. Farrell was ok also, but thought he kicked poorly also. 100% on Biggar from the hand. Was just kicking possession away. The game turned when we went through phases and sapped their energy.

Finn Russell is fit again also

Would love to see what he could do against them.

I thought so too but they ruled that out - I think they’ll pick the side next Wed so let’s see

[Zapater]

Hate watching from the antipodes. Timing was awful, had to record it and dodge the result until I could watch it in the morning. Probably the fair result at the end of the day - very good second half from the Lions and that ultimately made the difference. It's a bit hard to take after the good first half, but that's how the cookie crumbles. Pollard will be disappointed that he left quite a lot of points out there, but in all fairness so did Biggar. I like and rate Pollard, but he isn't like historical South African kickers who never missed.

Didn't think the Bomb Squad worked too well this time. Thought the new front 3 had a bit of trouble getting into their rhythm with the scrumming and binding well in the second. Smith had a good first half, but had a nightmare final 10 minutes, should have gotten him off well before. He was not far away from pens given away and had a few handling errors etc. Simply put, I think the Boks win that game with Duane Vermeulen instead of him unfortunately. Would rather Elstadt or Weise start in the next test with Kwagga on for the last 20 to bring something a little different. Perhaps a harsh assessment but at this level, the tiniest of details can make the difference.

I know I sound like a stuck record, but worth repeating myself that again the Boks pack was considerably smaller than the opposition. When we win it's always about because the 'forwards are bigger', but the weight disparity was again notable. As it is most times against Northern Hem opposition. Scrum worked in the first half and being too clever in the second with the changes made it backfire. I don't know the condition of the players but would like to see Mbonambi and Nche on the pitch for longer in the 2nd test.

Not really anything to do with this game, but I'm not a huge fan of Damian Willemse at fullback. If we have a 10 like Jantjies on the bench, I'd much rather have Nkosi as an outside back option then move Kolbe to 15.

We must be the only country in the world that is naive enough not to have home decisions. I, like the other posters above thought that the first try should have been ruled out for a forward pass, but was confident that the runner was behind the ball. Although the angles were awful and it's guesswork at best altogether. So possibly the right call regardless, but thought it was try time all day when the pass was greenlit. Thought they made the right decision on the Faf try and the third one where Kolbe clearly unfortunately knocked it on.

A little disappointed that the team on the pitch made nothing of the Watson dump on Willie. I don't personally think it should have been anything more than a pen. Although, I'm sure that if any Southern Hemisphere player did that in Europe, they'd be sent straight to the bin.

All in all a good game and hope that the Boks can bounce back next week. It was razor thin and I think the lack of competitive matches was certainly a factor. Itoje was immense too. Looking forward to it.

[Irishnev]

Hate watching from the antipodes. Timing was awful, had to record it and dodge the result until I could watch it in the morning. Probably the fair result at the end of the day - very good second half from the Lions and that ultimately made the difference. It's a bit hard to take after the good first half, but that's how the cookie crumbles. Pollard will be disappointed that he left quite a lot of points out there, but in all fairness so did Biggar. I like and rate Pollard, but he isn't like historical South African kickers who never missed.

Didn't think the Bomb Squad worked too well this time. Thought the new front 3 had a bit of trouble getting into their rhythm with the scrumming and binding well in the second. Smith had a good first half, but had a nightmare final 10 minutes, should have gotten him off well before. He was not far away from pens given away and had a few handling errors etc. Simply put, I think the Boks win that game with Duane Vermeulen instead of him unfortunately. Would rather Elstadt or Weise start in the next test with Kwagga on for the last 20 to bring something a little different. Perhaps a harsh assessment but at this level, the tiniest of details can make the difference.

I know I sound like a stuck record, but worth repeating myself that again the Boks pack was considerably smaller than the opposition. When we win it's always about because the 'forwards are bigger', but the weight disparity was again notable. As it is most times against Northern Hem opposition. Scrum worked in the first half and being too clever in the second with the changes made it backfire. I don't know the condition of the players but would like to see Mbonambi and Nche on the pitch for longer in the 2nd test.

Not really anything to do with this game, but I'm not a huge fan of Damian Willemse at fullback. If we have a 10 like Jantjies on the bench, I'd much rather have Nkosi as an outside back option then move Kolbe to 15.

We must be the only country in the world that is naive enough not to have home decisions. I, like the other posters above thought that the first try should have been ruled out for a forward pass, but was confident that the runner was behind the ball. Although the angles were awful and it's guesswork at best altogether. So possibly the right call regardless, but thought it was try time all day when the pass was greenlit. Thought they made the right decision on the Faf try and the third one where Kolbe clearly unfortunately knocked it on.

A little disappointed that the team on the pitch made nothing of the Watson dump on Willie. I don't personally think it should have been anything more than a pen. Although, I'm sure that if any Southern Hemisphere player did that in Europe, they'd be sent straight to the bin.

All in all a good game and hope that the Boks can bounce back next week. It was razor thin and I think the lack of competitive matches was certainly a factor. Itoje was immense too. Looking forward to it.

[Buzzo]

Spot on Zap - great summary. I think there is lots for the Boks to build upon. Is Vermeulen fit for the second test?

One thing I think and it was clearly tactical is that Pollard Kicked everything, and between that and Faf kicking everything there was not a lot of imagination. Would be nice to see a bit of variety and the ball going through hands a bit more.

Having a devastating back like Kolbe is great but he didn’t get any first phase ball. It meant that the DVDM-Kolbe match up never really materialised.

[Buzzo]

Elliot Daly was even worse than I thought rewatching the highlights.

The Boks disallowed try came from a wild throw from Pollard. Daly blitzes but exposes himself and leaves a massive gap. Between that, giving away 3 pens, missing the one from a long way out, literally nothing went right for him.

The only reasonable and non biased article I have read on the game is this:

https://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/lions-tour/first-blood-to-the-lions-as-warren-gatlands-side-squeeze-springboks-in-first-test-win-40686518.html

[Buzzo]

Based on yesterday my team for Sat is:

Backs: Hogg, VdM, Harris, Henshaw, Watson, Biggar, Price
Forwards: Jones/Mako (if Jones unfit) Owens, Furlong, itoje, AWJ, Lawes, Watson, Conan

I think Gatland will go for the same team other than:

with Farrell at 12 and Henshaw at 13
with Jones or Mako coming in for Sutherland
Owens for Cowan Dickie with maybe George on the bench and LCD dropping out
and Maybe swapping Watson and Curry.

[RichC]

Wasn’t convinced by Price at SH thought he had a pretty average game. Daly needs to be dropped out, I’d look at Aki potentially coming in.

[Buzzo]

I thought Price was really good personally.

His Box kicking was spot on other than one I can think off, and in the first half the Boks dominance meant the backs were not getting easy ball, even allowing for this I thought he did well and kept the tempo up.

He wasn’t able to play the game he was brought in for mainly due to the way the Boks played first half, but he began to gain territory with the accuracy of his kicking in the second half. You could argue that Murray also has this skill set, but given the fact that Price has also demonstrated this and could be even more dynamic of the pack get him more front foot ball then I don’t see him getting dropped.

Out of all of the Scots in the team he showed up best for me.

Only really Sutherland would be in doubt next week and maybe Hogg if the coaching team decide to go with Williams, but none of the backs showed up all that well under the high ball. Even Williams lost the ball in the disallowed forward pass try.

There are loads of options in the centre, I wonder if Gatland can resist the force of Farrells personality?

[Irishnev]

I thought Price was really good personally.

His Box kicking was spot on other than one I can think off, and in the first half the Boks dominance meant the backs were not getting easy ball, even allowing for this I thought he did well and kept the tempo up.

He wasn’t able to play the game he was brought in for mainly due to the way the Boks played first half, but he began to gain territory with the accuracy of his kicking in the second half. You could argue that Murray also has this skill set, but given the fact that Price has also demonstrated this and could be even more dynamic of the pack get him more front foot ball then I don’t see him getting dropped.

Out of all of the Scots in the team he showed up best for me.

Only really Sutherland would be in doubt next week and maybe Hogg if the coaching team decide to go with Williams, but none of the backs showed up all that well under the high ball. Even Williams lost the ball in the disallowed forward pass try.

There are loads of options in the centre, I wonder if Gatland can resist the force of Farrells personality?

I thought Price was solid and kicked pretty well - he stood off Faf at scrum time which I didn’t like but Murray did the same so clearly tactical. Towards the end of the game there were some mad passes which did t go to hand - one from Sinckler which had me shouting at the tv

Gatland makes hard choices and I don’t think he is swayed by outside influences - Farrell had a poor season and I don’t think they shoehorn him in. Henshaw is better at 12 so Harris is the obvious choice without upsetting the balance too much